Predicting Autism Outcomes in Kids

(Ivanhoe Newswire) – In a new study led by Patricia Kuhl, co-director of the University of Washington's Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, researchers were able to predict what autistic children’s linguistic, cognitive, and adaptive skills would be at four and six years by examining their brain responses to words at two years of age.

Researchers made the discovery after studying the brain responses of 24 two year olds diagnosed with autism and 20 who were not. While they listened to familiar and unfamiliar words, the children wore hats with sensors to measure brain activity. Children without autism or with less severe symptoms responded to familiar words with the temporal parietal region on the left side of the brain, which is typical. Those with severe social impairments, however, responded in the right side of the brain and showed less improvement in behavioral tests years later at four and six years old.